How nice of you’re curious to see who is behind Recht en Averecht! 😁
It’s me, Marijke Lennards, I’m not only crazy about yarns and knitting, but about everything that has to do with yarns, textiles and color. can’t visit a country without looking for the local yarn shop, fabric shop or museums with traditional costumes (with the excuse of professional deformity 😉).
What can I do for you? Don’t hesitate to contact me by phone or e-mail, I’m happy to be of help!
• I understand that it is difficult to find color combinations on a website.
If for some reason you can’t figure it out, I can always send you some photo proposals by e-mail.
• If you are not sure whether a yarn fits the pattern you want to make, send me the (technical) information of the pattern (the whole pattern is not necessary, a photo is useful) and I will let you know what the possibilities are.
Some practical information.
Recht en Averecht is a one-womans business, which means I do everything myself, I can’t always respond directly to an e-mail. I will always try to answer your e-mail a as soon as possible. If calling does not work, at least send an e-mail, I will try to answer it as soon as possible.
About my background (quite a long story, so have a cup of tea 😅).
In primary school I already learned to knit and crochet, but during my puberty it became a real hobby. In fact, I took my knitting to school and knit in class. I can remember when leg warmers were in fashion and I knitted them with all kinds of colors and patterns, even for friends.
There wasn’t internet yet so I taught myself various stitches through a stitch book of the vogue that I bought at the Hema. Just doing what was described, sometimes successfully and sometimes much less, that meant unraveling and repeating the stitch. At that time, the ‘Ariadne’ was the knitting magazine for knitting patterns, I have knitted a lot of sweaters and cardigans.
During my fashion design studies at the Artez art academy in Arnhem I was very busy, so I sat mainly behind the sewing machine. I still knitted occasionally for school (also by machine), but it was a less. Unfortunately, knitting was no longer popular and many wool shops disappeared at that time.
I graduated in 91 and started working as a fashion designer. In permanent employment for a while and then as a free lance designer. And how could it be otherwise, I specialized in designing knitted clothing.
In 2009, during my freelance work as a fashion designer, I designed hand-knitted clothing for a slow fashion brand. During this period of sourcing for beautiful yarns and knitting again by hand instead of the machine, my knitting virus has been rekindled.
So the idea arose to make my own knitting patterns and to sell them together with the matching wool. Next to my regular work, I started working with that idea.
In November 2011, the webshop went online with a small range of fair trade and organic patterns and a number of yarn patterns I made. After having had a pop-up store at 3 locations in addition to the web store for 2 years, I started a permanent store in the Modekwartier in Arnhem in 2016. By now I had also started dyeing yarns, because I found it so inspiring to do.
In 2018 ‘The Coloured Cat’ , my own yarn brand with hand-dyed yarns was created. At first I only sold them in the store, but the reactions were so good that I also took them to trade shows.
And then came 2020, it was going to be a good craft fair year, but in March 2020 everything changed, fairs were cancelled, a half lockdown, a lockdown and finally shopping by appointment. And actually i love that way of working I could divide my time better between helping customers, dyeing yarns, purchasing, administration, etc. It turned out that the mini kitchen of the shop I rented was a bit on the small side if I wanted to paint more. That’s how the decision came to renovate our former barn (once the bakery) at home (an old bakery shop). July 30, 2021 was the day of the move. The old Bakkery shop has become a showroom, so customers still can visit by appointment. The barn is now a studio, with downstairs the dye studio and the yarn warehouse and my office is in the attic.
Recht en Averecht continues to move, the range changes, but the approach whether or not to include yarns in the collection is always subject to ‘how does the manufacturer deal with people, the environment and animals’. I still design patterns, if I feel like it (and have time for it) but sometimes I just want to knit. 😉
Some ‘nothing to do with knitting’ facts about me. 😁
I like both dogs and cats, I grew up with cats and have 4 of them, an elderly black tomcat who is now deaf, a large white tomcat who talks to me, a red ‘adhd’ tomcat (he comes to get a pet and whizzes away again) and his tortoiseshell sister who is actually a dog disguised as a cat, because she follows us everywhere.
I am a collector when I come across something that inspires me (art/color/dress/nature etc) I can’t resist taking it with me. My studio is now full and I have to be a bit more selective, but boy, is that difficult sometimes.
I also like messing around in my city garden, baking sourdough bread and (on the weekend) cooking elaborately.
